How to Get the Experience You Need for a Job in Media

Many people dream of a job as an on-air personality in TV or radio. Just as many imagine careers behind the scenes working to bring people movies, news and programming that they love.

Getting the experience you need to be competitive for a media related job isn’t always easy though. While programs designed to help you learn the right skills are important, there are things you can do in conjunction with a formal education that can help.

Keep reading to learn how you can put yourself ahead of the pack when it comes to getting the media job you want.

Become an Intern

Interning is something that most people think is for high school students and those who don’t have to work to pay the bills. Even if you’re quite a few years older than high school age, internships are still a viable way to learn while on the job.

From big companies with hundreds of employees, to smaller companies with just a handful of workers, internships can help you learn valuable skills on the job. Some even allow you to work for just a few hours per day when it fits your schedule.

Best of all, internships allow you to put something on your resume that is real world work experience. It doesn’t matter if you were paid or not – you were still doing the work and learning about your business.

Work for Less

Even if you have bills to pay, trying to land a gig that’s going to take care of all of your expenses right off the bat isn’t always possible. To build up experience and credits you can put on your resume, working for less money is often a prudent choice.

From student films to helping a classmate with a project, getting real world experience and actually working will help you land better jobs in the near future.

Know Your Abilities

Getting a job in the media world can be difficult, and if you’re up against 100 qualified candidates, you may feel like you don’t have a chance. Things can get especially tough when you don’t have a ton of experience that you can put down on your resume.

Knowing your abilities and being able to demonstrably tell an employer why you can do the job is important though. Even if you’ve never been paid to do something, you very well may know how to do it at professional or near-professional level.

Even having studied a certain aspect of a job can help you get ahead. Make sure your employer knows that you are knowledgeable and willing to learn what you don’t know to become a valuable asset to their company.

Media Schools

Visit our Media Schools to learn more about getting the experience you need to land the job of your dreams. From work behind the camera, to becoming an on-air personality for TV or radio, we can help you learn what you need to know to take the next step in your career.